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“I have been absent from Steepster because a large group of people descended upon my home, these people were always needing to be fed, whining about how the shower they took was cold and always...”
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“I’ve been sipping away at this without even thinking! My first day of training got cancelled, nooooo, but I go tomorrow. I went to the mall anyway to confirm my suspicions that I have no idea how...”
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“I had thist tea with lunch and I greatly enjoyed it. The base was fragrant, full-bodied and a little malty.. The addition of a variety of citrus really worked well with the base. I definitely need...”
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“I’m beginning to think Kusmi can do no wrong with black teas. This is the 4th I have tried, and it’s very good. Latte’d it up today, because it’s just one of those days where you’re lucky I got out...”
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88 Tasting Notes

I have been absent from Steepster because a large group of people descended upon my home, these people were always needing to be fed, whining about how the shower they took was cold and always wanting some article of clothing washed or their specific dietary needs being met.

In other words, my family was here.
They also pried in my cupboards and were constantly asking me why I was hoarding so much tea. (long, agonizing sigh inserted here)
But, now here I sit, in a house that is too quiet, both sad and relieved at the same time.
I shared my tea with my family, especially my father who actually does drink tea and he liked almost all the teas I shared with him.
Some of my other family, spat out or wrinkled their noses or gagged at the teas I so generously shared from my “hoard”.
This tea arrived, unfortunately, while they were here.
Comments were made about how I had bought MORE tea while I clearly had too much already.
Anyway, I actually ordered loose tea, but this arrived in the their little muslin baggies.
I could have made a fuss, and returned it.
But, I have wanted to try this flavor and brand for so long now, that I just swallowed the extra expense and opened and have been quickly sneaking a cup while the company was here.
I did not want to share this tea, since I spent so much and there is only 20 little muslin baggies in the box.
But, now here I sit, in my empty house, drinking it out in the open, and once again visiting with my understanding friends on Steepster.
I have missed you all!
For some reason, I was expecting this tea to be a bit bolder, instead it is a very elegant Earl Grey.
The delicately blended citrus makes it feel worthy of a real proper tea party.
I think I was expecting this tea to blow me out of the water and totally wow me.
Instead it fells like it is gently reprimanding me and tell me to cross my ankles and sit like a lady.
I like that though.
Especially since I am missing my Mother more than I would like to admit.

Preparation

I have a love-hate relationship with people visiting as well. So much work to do before and during their visit, but I look forward to the calmness when they leave! At least you had a new tea to brighten your day! :)

One of the things I like about Kusmi teas are how delicate and subtle they are. I’m now reminded that I want to try their violet black tea but have not gotten around to it. They have the most beauteous tins, too :)

I’ve been sipping away at this without even thinking! My first day of training got cancelled, nooooo, but I go tomorrow. I went to the mall anyway to confirm my suspicions that I have no idea how the mall works. I ended up in Sur La Table before I ever found a dress, so I called my mom to tell her I found a bear cookie cutter. She was like, where, and I told her, she had no idea what I said so I said it again as “on the table in French.” So then she figured it out, I was so amused. I had to stop myself from buying a tin of Dammann Freres tea in there.

I did find a dress but I was really worried I was only going to find a bear cookie cutter.

So finally home, it is tea time. I am glad I picked this one, though I am not very happy with how these little tins are covered in fannings. They are getting all over me.

I steeped this one for 3 1/2 minutes and used boiling water. No problems, surprisingly, given the ideal water temperature listed is far lower. I love how smooth these Kusmi black teas are. I’ve never enjoyed the flavor of bergamot so much.

This one is citrusy but not just from the bergamot. I can taste lemon and orange too, which gives it more of a sweetness than just bergamot. I like that the bergamot isn’t extremely heavy, which for me always leads to it reminding me of kitchen cleaner.

I love these teas so much. This one I think is my favorite so far, but out of the Russian sampler 5, I only have two left and I think Anastasia may stay …Grand Duchess of these teas.

I would have said queen but it only feels right to go with the proper title.

I had thist tea with lunch and I greatly enjoyed it. The base was fragrant, full-bodied and a little malty.. The addition of a variety of citrus really worked well with the base. I definitely need to get myself some looseleaf of this!

I’m beginning to think Kusmi can do no wrong with black teas. This is the 4th I have tried, and it’s very good. Latte’d it up today, because it’s just one of those days where you’re lucky I got out of bed. I did take a few straight sips that seemed like they’d be ok if I weren’t in That Mood.

Another that was used in food today. I made moraiwe’s Cranberry Earl Grey bread recipe and used this instead of normal EG. It was really good. I think it adds another layer of citrus to the bread and it was tasty!

We also steeped this up for the tea party. I still like it a lot but if you are in the blergamot camp this isn’t gonna be your thing, most likely. The additional citrus both enhances and complements the bergamot. Need to work my way through this so I can justify taking the empty tin with me to NY next week. :)

Car wouldn’t start this morning. Ugh. And I just had it in the shop! I’m not sure how much longer I can keep pouring money into it, it’s getting quite old. Sigh. I spent this morning looking at new cars and daydreaming about how nice it would be.

I decided to go ahead and try the rest of my Kusmi teas from my sample tin set (the Russian sampler), most of which I haven’t tried even though I’ve had it for a while now. This one smells like bergamot and orange, with a floral orange blossom note. It also smells strongly of what I believe is one of the base tea, and it isn’t a pleasant smell for me.

At first I was not feeling this tea, but it’s perhaps getting better as it cools. One of the teas in the base blend really isn’t my favorite, but it’s smoothing out a bit I think. Still, I am not finding this tea to be all that tasty overall. All the flavors are there that mean that I should like it, but then I just don’t. It’s not pleasurable. I dunno, I just hope that this dislike of my Kusmi teas is temporary or doesn’t extend to all of them because I have a huge tin of Petrushka that’s not going to drink itself!

This year’s gift to myself was the Kusmi sample set of russian blends and this cup http://www.roykirkham.co.uk/images/images/m/577.jpg which is the same series as my favouritest ever teapot. I love how it’s standing there all full of tea and baaa-ing at me.

Anyway, this is the first one out of the sample set, chosen by ippy-dippy.

My nasal membranes are dried out today. I can’t figure out if I’m on the verge of a cold or something or not, but they definitely aren’t working, so I didn’t get much out of smelling the dry leaves. I could smell them, but not well enough to tell anything beyond ‘citrus’ and after a while it just started to feel weird in the nose.

Enough about my health, you’re not interested in that. Let’s just skip to the part where smelling the steam coming off the cup of finished tea went much much better. It’s definitely citrus-y. Primarily bergamot with the others coming in on top. Like Earl Grey With Friends.

I was expecting sweet citrus, but this isn’t really it. Again, the bergamot is in the forefront and it’s got that slightly bitter bite to it. I’m glad the other citruses are there too because without them I’m not sure I’d have liked this as much. As it is, it’s nice but not a favourite. Maybe it’ll change later. It’s been known to happen that I completely fall in love with something I initially didn’t think that much of. The much beloved Tan Yang being a good example of this.

I do wish it was sweeter though, so I tried adding some cane sugar. Didn’t work either. Oh it’s sweeter alright, but not in the right way. The sugar doesn’t really merge with the citrus flavours like I wanted it to. The tea flavour is unchanged and then the sugar sweetness is there sort of next to it.

This is an enjoyable blend, but I’ll keep looking for a favourite, I think.

~Lauren, someone has told me that I can’t be safe from hayfever just because I haven’t been bothered by it before. I refuse to have hayfever, so I’m clinging to the cold. (And doing my best, thank you)

Auggy, SIMILARTASTESSTRIKESAGAINOMG! Okay maybe it was a little predictable on this particular set, them being russian blends, but STILL! There’s one of them I’m a little concerned about. The flowers one. Smells of soap…

After my last cup of tea I ate dinner, and I still haven’t done the weight workout. It’s because I need a caffeine boost first. Otherwise how can I possibly be expected to “just do it”! Yeah, that’s the ticket. So I’m going to have another cup of tea.

I wanted a Kusmi for some reason, and I couldn’t decide which one so I did a little bit of a GM sampler redux here and just stuck my hand in among the black teas until I got a Kusmi. This was the one that came up.

I’ve decided I really need to read War and Peace so I’m in a sort of a Russified mood, and so it was somewhat fitting that this Russian sampler one came up. The Kusmi samplers are in itty bitty tins that look like baby versions of the bigger ones. Is it just me, or does anyone else get a Fancy Feast vibe from these itty bitty cans?

In the itty bitty can, Anastasia smells flowery and citrusy in that French perfume sort of way that many of the French teas seem to have. I definitely smell lemon, and the bergamot is there but seems like it’s sitting in the back seat. I am coming to believe that when one puts lemon with bergamot, the lemon will always come to the fore. This is, in any case, my working hypothesis.

Deep mahogany liquor. A very ceylon aroma, sweet molasses smell. There’s a fruity smell but it’s not wholly citrus. It’s more of a sort of dark berry smell I’ve smelled in Ceylons before with citrus around the edges. It’s like someone rolled a berry in a primarily lemon coating that had some orange sprinkled in.

I was expecting a strong fruit flavor but I’m really not getting that at all. It does have a sort of Earl Grey feel, but only in a tangential way. The main citrus flavor is lemon, and it adds a bright little sparkle, but it isn’t overly strong. I like the lemon in this. It’s not too tart or soapy.

But there’s more to the fruit than the citrus. I get a sort of a berry flavor to the tea as well. The tea is generally smooth with a little bit of bite right at the end every few sips. It’s not really full bodied, but it gives the impression of being that way.

It’s a really interesting tea, somewhat surprising. I wasn’t really expecting to like it, but I do. I will have to taste it against the TeaFrog Earl Grey Special just for laughs when my TeaFrog order arrives.

I didn’t realize I hadn’t had this one before. I thought I had tried each of my Kusmi Russian blend teas but apparently not. Anyway, taken with no additives. Like all Kusmi teas, this is not overpoweringly flavored. There are soft citrus accents, the most noticeable one being a fresh-lemon taste that gives it a hint of tartness. There is a soft sweetness to the tea that makes it not need sugar but it isn’t as sweet as something like Troika or St. Petersburg. I think the lemony tartness is the cause of this, countering the thick smoothness of the tea and creating just a hint of discord. This is still a pretty tea but I prefer the rich silkiness of Troika (even though it can edge towards too decadent) over this silky tea and fresh lemon mix. Though I will say, the lemon tartness is very well done – it tastes remarkably like real fresh lemon. I would say this tea is more of a match for people that find other Kusmi teas too heavy/silky/rich or those that enjoy lemony teas. Personally, I prefer citrus with more sweetness and less tartness.